Halloween Wellington — a plant-based British recipe by BOSH!
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Halloween Wellington

This is the one we pull out every Halloween when we want to really show off. A golden, flaky puff pastry shell packed with a proper hearty filling of pumpkin, lentils, mushrooms and herbs; it's the kind of centrepiece that makes everyone at the table go quiet for a second before asking for the recipe. The porcini mushrooms add this incredible depth, the rosemary and sage make the whole kitchen smell unreal, and the pumpkin brings a subtle sweetness that just works so well against the earthy lentils. Honestly, we've made this every October for years and it never gets old. If you're looking for something to make this Halloween feel genuinely special, this is it.

Cook: 70 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 200°C
  • Large baking sheet
  • Baking paper
  • Dried porcini mushrooms soaked in 100ml boiling water
  • Filling cooled completely before assembling
  • Halloween-shaped cookie cutters

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 red onions
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 celery stick
  • 500g pumpkins
  • 200g chestnut mushrooms
  • 1 sprig of rosemary
  • 1 sprigs of sage
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 10g dried porcini mushrooms - soaked in 500ml boiling water
  • 175ml plant-based red wine
  • 2 400g can of green lentils
  • 3 ready-rolled plant-based puff pastry sheets
  • plant-based milk to brush
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1

Prepare the ingredients

  • Peel and grate the garlic
  • Peel and dice the onions
  • Finely slice the celery
  • Peel and dice the pumpkin (you can also grate the pumpkin if you’re struggling to cut it fine)
  • Dice the mushrooms
  • Pick the rosemary and sage leaves and finely dice
  • Cover the dried porcini mushrooms with 100ml boiling water and leave to soak
  • Drain the lentils
2

Make the filling

  • Warm the olive oil in the pan over a medium heat
  • Add the red onions and salt and stir for 3 minutes
  • Add the garlic and stir for 1 minute
  • Add the celery and pumpkin to the pan and stir for 4-5 minutes
  • Take the porcini mushrooms out of the water, squeeze them dry and dice (save the water)
  • Add the chestnut mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf and salt and pepper to the pan and stir for 4-5 minutes
  • Add the red wine and porcini water to the pan, stir and simmer for 6-7 minutes
  • Add the green lentils to the pan, stir, turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes stirring occasionally
  • Take the pan off the stove and leave the mixture to cool down completely
3

Prepare the decoration

  • Unroll one sheet of pastry and use the cookie cutters to cut Halloween shapes
  • Set the shapes to one side on a piece of baking paper
  • Save the excess pastry for a different recipe
4

Make the wellington

  • Unroll one of the two remaining sheets of pastry, on the baking paper it comes wrapped in, onto a baking sheet
  • Spoon the filling into the middle of the pastry and use your hands to press and shape it into a smooth mound making sure there is at least one inch of exposed pastry all round the mound
  • Brush the exposed pastry with dairy free milk
  • Unroll the last sheet of pastry, lay it over the filling and press the edges of the pastry sheets down with your fingers to seal, making sure the top sheet of pastry is tight to the mound of filling
  • Cut the edges of the pastry away with a sharp knife
  • Use a fork to seal the wellington all around the base
5

Decorate, bake and serve the wellington

  • Brush the whole wellington with dairy free milk
  • Cover the wellington with the Halloween pastry shapes and brush them with dairy free milk
  • Place the wellington in the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and crispy
  • When the wellington is ready, take it out of the oven, slice it with a bread knife and serve

Tips & Variations

  • Make it your own: We love this with pumpkin but butternut squash works just as well if that's what you've got. Same sweet, earthy vibe and it's often easier to dice.
  • Get the pastry golden: Brush the pastry generously with plant-based milk before it goes in the oven. A second coat halfway through is worth it for that really deep golden colour.
  • Rest before slicing: Give it 5 to 10 minutes out of the oven before you cut into it. We know it's tempting to go straight in but it helps the filling set and you'll get much cleaner slices.

Why This Works

The trick here is soaking the dried porcini mushrooms before you do anything else. That soaking liquid is liquid gold; it adds a deep, savoury richness to the filling that you just can't get any other way. The combo of lentils and pumpkin also means the filling holds together beautifully inside the pastry, so when you slice it you get those gorgeous clean layers instead of everything falling apart.